Electronic Waste Pollution due to Lack of Infrastructure in Developing Countries
By: Arun Fricker The Problem: The problem begins during the developing phases of a countries history. A very accurate and specific case to follow is India and its development in the last 50 years. In India, the problem began during the Indian Revolution when India separated themselves from British control. The following period of development in the last 50 years has led to corruption in government as well as lack of infrastructure across the country. As technology advanced in the Western nations, many of the eastern nations were still coming out of the dark. But there was all this ground to make up, to catch up with the prosperity of the developed countries. This influenced acceleration to make up the lost ground led to certain grabs at power as well as poor planning on the industrial side. Corruption in politics soon came about as legislation was not being passed without significant push from certain corporations. As well, the infrastructure to take care of all the technology that was coming into the country was not implemented (Bandyopadhyay). What ensued was a huge usage of electronics that had nowhere to go when they broke. Massive scales of pollution occurred due to the lack of facilities to take care of the waste. As well, many developing countries have been the recipient of tons of waste from developed countries but they don’t have the facilities to deal with it (Greenpeace).
The Scale: Currently, every person living in a major city in India is exposed to the trash and pollution. Not to mention the high levels of toxic chemicals that electronics bring when they end up leaching into the water supply. As of 2010, 8% of all municipal waste in India was constituted of electronic or electrical equipment (Bandyopadhyay). Not only does this affect the poor, who live on the streets, but it affects the more affluent as well, who still do breathe the toxic air. If left unconsidered, this problem could and will propagate throughout developing countries and inhibit their industrial and cultural growth (Greenpeace). As well, all this pollution directly to the environment will come around again, either through climate change, or destruction of wildlife species.
Solutions: Around the developed world many different countries are enacting regulations to control the electronic waste. India could also enact a similar legislation that would target the electrical appliance companies to regulate the amount produced. As well, India could build better infrastructure in the form of facilities to have better waste-management control. Already, India is building major highways across the country which is a step up towards its developing nation. Another solution is for India to force the companies who produce the waste to regulate the waste that they do produce and actually be completely responsible for the end product (Gupta). With this solution, India also enforces that no electronic waste can enter the country with the specific purpose to be disposed of. This will limit the waste India takes from other countries as well as limit its own waste. Part of the solution is to educate the workers of the new facilities to better understand recycling of the valuable materials and how the environment is effected by pollution (Bandyopadhyay). Citations: Gupta, Joydeep. "India prepares strictest rules on disposing of e-waste." India Africa Connect. (2012): n. page. <http://www.indiaafricaconnect.in/index.php?
Bandyopadhyay, Amitava. "Electronics waste management: India practices and guidelines." International Journal of Energy and Environment. 1.5 (2010): 793-804.
Image References: 1. Gupta, Joydeep. "India prepares strictest rules on disposing of e-waste." India Africa Connect. (2012) Web. <http://www.indiaafricaconnect.in/index.php?
Electronic Waste Pollution due to Lack of Infrastructure in Developing Countries
By: Arun Fricker
The Problem:
The problem begins during the developing phases of a countries history. A very accurate and specific case to follow is India and its development in the last 50 years. In India, the problem began during the Indian Revolution when India separated themselves from British control. The following period of development in the last 50 years has led to corruption in government as well as lack of infrastructure across the country. As technology advanced in the Western nations, many of the eastern nations were still coming out of the dark. But there was all this ground to make up, to catch up with the prosperity of the developed countries. This influenced acceleration to make up the lost ground led to certain grabs at power as well as poor planning on the industrial side. Corruption in politics soon came about as legislation was not being passed without significant push from certain corporations. As well, the infrastructure to take care of all the technology that was coming into the country was not implemented (Bandyopadhyay). What ensued was a huge usage of electronics that had nowhere to go when they broke. Massive scales of pollution occurred due to the lack of facilities to take care of the waste. As well, many developing countries have been the recipient of tons of waste from developed countries but they don’t have the facilities to deal with it (Greenpeace).
The Scale:
Currently, every person living in a major city in India is exposed to the trash and pollution. Not to mention the high levels of toxic chemicals that electronics bring when they end up leaching into the water supply. As of 2010, 8% of all municipal waste in India was constituted of electronic or electrical equipment (Bandyopadhyay). Not only does this affect the poor, who live on the streets, but it affects the more affluent as well, who still do breathe the toxic air. If left unconsidered, this problem could and will propagate throughout developing countries and inhibit their industrial and cultural growth (Greenpeace). As well, all this pollution directly to the environment will come around again, either through climate change, or destruction of wildlife species.
Solutions:
Around the developed world many different countries are enacting regulations to control the electronic waste. India could also enact a similar legislation that would target the electrical appliance companies to regulate the amount produced. As well, India could build better infrastructure in the form of facilities to have better waste-management control. Already, India is building major highways across the country which is a step up towards its developing nation. Another solution is for India to force the companies who produce the waste to regulate the waste that they do produce and actually be completely responsible for the end product (Gupta). With this solution, India also enforces that no electronic waste can enter the country with the specific purpose to be disposed of. This will limit the waste India takes from other countries as well as limit its own waste. Part of the solution is to educate the workers of the new facilities to better understand recycling of the valuable materials and how the environment is effected by pollution (Bandyopadhyay).
Citations:
Gupta, Joydeep. "India prepares strictest rules on disposing of e-waste." India Africa Connect. (2012): n. page. <http://www.indiaafricaconnect.in/index.php?
Bandyopadhyay, Amitava. "Electronics waste management: India practices and guidelines." International Journal of Energy and Environment. 1.5 (2010): 793-804.
Greenpeace. "Where does e-waste end up?" Greenpeace International. (2009). <http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/toxics/electronics/the-e-waste-problem/where-does-e-waste-end-up/>.
Image References:
1. Gupta, Joydeep. "India prepares strictest rules on disposing of e-waste." India Africa Connect. (2012) Web. <http://www.indiaafricaconnect.in/index.php?
2. Chung, Chien-min. China's Electronic Waste Village. 2009. Photograph. TimePhotos, Guiyu, China. Web. <http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1870162_1822148,00.html>.
3. Anand, Channi. India River Pollution. 2010. Photograph. Sulekha.com. Jammu, India. Web. <http://newshopper.sulekha.com/india-river-pollution_photo_1231228.htm>
4. Simple Act of Waiting. 2012. Photograph. Allahabad, India. Web. <http://i.imgur.com/D3eW4.jpg>
5. Tea gardens on hills of Munnar, India. 2011. Photograph. Munnar, India. Web. <http://i.imgur.com/gK4Bx.jpg>